Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally in the field of household aquarium maintenance. More particularly, the present invention is an aquarium filter with water stream diversion system which allows the filter to assume various configurations which provide for multiple modes of operation and methods of use thereof. Specifically, the aquarium filter with water stream diversion system of the present invention can be reconfigured to be used as a remote filter intake, a remote filter outlet, to drain water from the aquarium, to replenish water in the aquarium, and/or in conjunction with an aquarium gravel cleaning device.
Brief Description of the Prior Art
It is commonly known that aquariums require appliances for filtering the water contained therein as well as periodic partial water changes to maintain a healthy environment within the aquarium. Filters of various configurations are known to clean and filter the water within the aquarium, and which use an integral pump to force water through various filtration media including mechanical filtration, biological filtration, chemical filtration, as well as ultraviolet exposure treatment. Aquarium filter devices currently known have various arrangements and configurations that provide traditional filtration. Two popular filtration arrangements are hang-on external aquarium filters and internal aquarium filters.
For changing the water within an aquarium, there are a variety of consumer products currently available. A basic hose and bucket provide a method to manually remove water from the aquarium for discarding and subsequent refilling the aquarium with fresh water. A bucket can also be utilized to replenish the water drained from the aquarium. However, disadvantageously, this can disrupt the aquarium environment by manually pouring water into the aquarium. Alternatively, manual siphons, separate pumps, hoses and automatic water exchange devices are available for water changing. However, disadvantageously, these products require extra equipment to be purchased, set-up for use, and then stored after changing the water in the aquarium.
Gravel cleaning has also been a regular maintenance requirement that has been performed using a variety of specialized gravel cleaning equipment. These include siphon cleaners, battery powered motors, air venturi powered suction tube cleaners, and rim-mounted motor powered filter enclosures. All gravel cleaners use a rigid tube that can be positioned to reach the bottom of the aquarium where it is inserted and moved about in the gravel bed to dislodge and remove the particulate debris from the gravel. In typical siphon cleaner models, the debris is drawn into the tube and immediately directed into a drain or container outside the aquarium. In motor powered and air powered gravel cleaning devices, the contaminated water is forced through filter material and returned to the aquarium.
Siphon cleaning devices may include mechanical means to get the siphon started such as a built in check valve or squeeze bulb valve that creates the suction and maintains the one-way water flow for as long as the siphon is intact. Powered gravel cleaners of the hand-held variety use a top mounted small battery powered motor to create instant suction that is transferred to the bottom end of the tube at the gravel bed. Air powered gravel cleaners use the lift created by dissolved air in the water introduced near the bottom of the rigid tube to induce suction at the gravel bed. The air must be provided by a separate air pump with an attached air tube arrangement. Both of these powered gravel cleaners return the water back to the aquarium after being directed through a porous filter material.
Another type of powered gravel cleaner is temporarily mounted on the tank rim to perform aquarium gravel cleaning maintenance and then is removed when the process is complete. This gravel cleaner uses an integrated self-priming pump with a top mounted flexible tube that connects to a rigid tube that can be positioned to reach the gravel bed which can be moved about in the aquarium. The water passes through a porous filter material and is returned to the aquarium in a filtered state.
While the prior art discloses various aquarium filters, gravel cleaning devices, and means for draining and replenishing the water in the aquarium, so far as is known, none of these devices and methods resolve the deficiencies noted above, as in the present invention.